


Till Death Do Us Part

by planet_plantagenet



Category: Pericles: Prince of Tyre - Shakespeare
Genre: Angst, Attempted Murder, Canon Compliant, Character Death, Difficult Decisions, Established Relationship, First In The Fandom, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 20:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7402132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planet_plantagenet/pseuds/planet_plantagenet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Thy oath remember; thou hast sworn to do't:<br/>'Tis but a blow, which never shall be known."</p><p>Leonine, before and after the attempted murder of Marina. Most of this (except his relationship with Thaliard) is based on the canon.</p><p>THIS IS LITERALLY THE FIRST PERICLES FIC ON AO3. OMG.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Till Death Do Us Part

My heartbeat grew faster and faster, Dionyza’s words swirling through my brain as I ran. _Kill Marina_.

When she had first uttered that command, I had started, stared at her. _Marina? Why Marina? She’s such a kind, friendly person. She’s never done anything to you._

 _Not directly,_ had been Dionyza’s cold response, refusing to say more.

I shivered, sweaty fingers clenched around the hilt of the knife she had given me. I had handled deadlier weapons than this… but all with the knowledge that I would not intentionally use them to hurt anyone.

Could I get out of it? Could I somehow pretend Marina had died, and not have to do it myself?

I couldn’t risk it. The danger of Dionyza finding out was too high.

I stopped outside the front door of Thaliard’s small flat, only a block away from Cleon and Dionyza’s mansion. I’d known him for almost all of the three years he’d been living here, but by now I couldn’t imagine a time without him.

Hastily, I shoved the sheathed knife into my pocket and rapped on the door.

“Leonine?” came Thaliard’s hoarse voice from inside the apartment. I heard footsteps, then the door swung open to reveal Thaliard grinning at me. Before I could respond, he had pulled me into a kiss.

“Haven’t seen you in awhile,” he said, gesturing for me to come inside. I smiled in spite of myself, following him into the small living room. Thaliard collapsed onto the couch, letting out a contented sigh. I sat too, more slowly, painfully aware of the knife in my pocket.

Thaliard turned to me, studied my face. “Something’s up. Tell me about it.”

I’d forgotten about Thaliard’s uncanny ability to sense my emotions. I fixed my eyes on my hands, fidgeting with the hem of my jacket, pointedly not looking at him.

“Thaliard,” I started, after a pause, “have you ever killed someone?”

He let out a surprised laugh. “That’s an interesting question! In all honesty—no, though I have attempted it once or twice.”

I looked up at him, startled. The question had been rhetorical. “You… who??”

“You know Marina, right?”

My heart skipped a beat. “Yes….”

“Her father. Pericles, the prince of Tyre.”

“But you didn’t succeed?” I asked quickly.

“I thought I had. When I arrived at Tyre, it turned out that he’d gone to Tarsus. And so… I assumed he’d die on the trip there.” Thaliard shrugged. “I was wrong, of course… but at least Antiochus never found out.”

I nodded, not daring to speak. Thaliard had told me multiple stories involving Antiochus, his former king. But somehow he’d never mentioned attempted murder.

“How come you never told me this before?”

Thaliard sighed, leaned back into the couch. “I guess I didn’t want to scare you. You always were a little squeamish when it comes to killing.” He suddenly turned to me, and his dark brown eyes met mine. “Why did you ask about it?”

“Because—” I swallowed, broke the eye contact. “Because Dionyza wants me to kill Marina.”

There was silence. I looked up at Thaliard, curious as to his reaction. He was staring off into the distance, apparently in thought.

“Yes, that makes sense,” he said finally. “She’s been jealous, hasn’t she?”

“Jealous? Of Marina?” Dionyza hadn’t told me her reasoning.

“Rather, she believes that Marina is more skillful and beautiful than Philoten.”

“But why would she kill—”

“Marina is not Dionyza’s daughter,” Thaliard interrupted. “She’s adopted. And she’s been getting more attention than Philoten, Dionyza’s biological daughter. I believe Dionyza sees Marina as a threat to Philoten’s marriage.”

“Wait, _what_??”

Thaliard raised an eyebrow at me. “Philoten’s been seeking a suitor, you know. But all the people who have come to court her end up noticing Marina instead.”

“So that’s why…” I mused, grateful as ever for Thaliard’s impressive deductive skills.

“So,” began Thaliard, with the air of someone inquiring about plans for the coming week, “how do you plan on killing Marina?”

“What?! I don’t _want_ to kill her, Thaliard!”

Thaliard looked genuinely surprised. “Leonine, I legitimately thought you were asking me for murder tips.”

“Of course not!” I cried. “You said it yourself—I hate killing and violence and all that. I only wish Dionyza was a reasonable person….”

Eyes narrowing, Thaliard studied me for a while. “What will Dionyza do if you don’t kill Marina?”

I gulped. “Uh… I don’t know.”

“Kill you too, perhaps?”

I nodded slowly. “She… she didn’t say anything about it. Just made me swear to do it.”

“She’s going to hold you to your word.”

“Are you suggesting…?”

Thaliard said nothing, just looked at me. I avoided his gaze, stood up, started to pace around the room.

“You have a knife in your pocket,” Thaliard observed quietly.

Starting, I pulled the weapon out. The blade was short, but I could feel its sharpness through the leather sheath. “How’d you know?”

“I recognize the shape, even through fabric. Is that what Dionyza gave you?”

I grunted an affirmative.

“To make a fatal wound with that small of a knife, you’re going to have to go for the jugular vein in the throat. Do you know where that is?”

“Shut up!” I shouted, covering my face with my hands. “Stop acting like I’ve made up my mind! Like I’m committed to this… this slaughter! I like Marina. She doesn’t deserve to die.”

“Neither do you,” said Thaliard softly.

I turned back to face him. He had stood too, and was looking at me with an expression that almost seemed pitiful.

“I… I don’t know for certain that Dionyza will kill me if I don’t—”

“She’s not too hesitant about killing her own adopted daughter.”

“But I—”

“You’re her servant, Leonine.”

I didn’t respond, just looked down at the knife clutched in my palms. I felt Thaliard’s hand on my shoulder.

“What it really comes down to,” Thaliard breathed, “is whether or not you value your own life above Marina’s.”

“I don’t want to have to make that decision.”

“Would you like me to make it for you?” I felt Thaliard’s breath on my cheek—soothing, in a way. “I love you, Leonine. I’d rather Marina—friendly and compassionate as she may be—die than you.”

There was silence for a couple seconds, in which the only sound was Thaliard’s breath and my own frenzied heartbeat. I tried to imagine myself in Thaliard’s position. What if I had to choose between his life and Marina’s? As much as it pained me to admit, I knew what I would decide.

“Okay,” I whispered, finally turning to face Thaliard, “I’ll do it. I’ll kill Marina.”

*

“Remember,” murmured Dionyza into my ear, “you’ve sworn to do it.”

I swallowed nervously, my eyes darting between Dionyza’s face and the door of her mansion. Marina was due to arrive any second. I felt the weight of the knife in my pocket.

Dionyza snapped her fingers, bringing my attention back to her. Her eyebrows were narrowed, and teeth set in an angry fashion. “I know what you’re thinking, Leonine. You don’t want to kill her. You think she’s too _nice_ , too _good_.”

“She’s a good person,” I replied before I could stop myself.

“I don’t want to hear any of that bullshit,” Dionyza hissed. “You’re my servant. You do what I say. Your _pity_ or _conscience_ doesn’t rule you—I do. Now. Are you resolved?”

“I am resolved,” I said quietly, wiping my sweaty hands on my pants.

*

“Pirates,” I muttered under my breath, muscles aching from the physical strain of the chase. Just my luck. Two goddamn _pirates_ had leapt out of nowhere and seized Marina—what were the odds?! I cursed myself for being so slow. I could’ve struck, not spoke—I had wasted too much time by talking with her.

“Well,” I said aloud, “at least she’s gone, and I didn’t have to kill her.”

It felt good, knowing that my conscience was still intact. Marina was right—I didn’t have the heart to kill anyone. And Dionyza surely wouldn’t find out, if I lied well enough.

*

“Is it done?”

“Ma’am, it is done.”

Dionyza’s lips curled up into an almost gleeful smile. “Good, Leonine. The body?”

“Disposed of,” I said quickly, willing my feet to keep still and my fingers not to fidget with the sleeves of my jacket. I had no idea how to properly get rid of a corpse, but fortunately Dionyza didn’t ask for elaboration.

She crossed to the other side of the dining room, and poured two glasses of wine from a bottle on the table. Wordlessly, she held the first glass up to me. I didn’t take it.

“Ma’am?”

“To celebrate our victory.”

 _Our_. As if I’d actually murdered Marina. As if I’d wanted to in the first place. But I just took the glass and sipped at the acid sweet liquid, saying nothing.

“Leonine.”

“Yes?”

“That was a good job. Very quick, clean. Perhaps I’ll consider raising your pay.”

I managed a small smile. “Thanks, ma’am.”

I didn’t tell her that the thought of gaining money from taking the life of an innocent teenager made me sick.

*

When I got to Thaliard’s house, I collapsed onto the couch and sat there, silent, tired, consumed in my own thoughts. My head hurt, too, which didn’t help at all. Thaliard perched next to me, visibly worried.

“So, what went wrong?” he asked tentatively.

I finally looked at him. “Everything. Nothing. It depends on how you define _wrong_.”

“Just tell me what happened.”

My gaze dropped to my hands, curled in my lap. “I… didn’t kill Marina.”

Thaliard sighed. “The one thing you were supposed to do, Leonine….”

“I didn’t want to do it!”

“I know you didn’t. But we talked about this! What’s Dionyza going to do to you now?”

“She didn’t do anything.”

“What…?”

“Marina’s gone.” I looked back at Thaliard. His eyebrows were cocked, skeptical. “She was captured by pirates.”

“Pirates?! What the hell?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s exactly what I thought. But they took her. So I just figured I could get away with lying to Dionyza.”

“Because you didn’t think the pirates would bring her back?”

“Why would they?! They’re _pirates_! They’ll probably sell her into slavery or something!”

“It’s probably a safe bet that she won’t come back, yes. So Dionyza believed you?”

“It seems she did.” I made to stand up, but was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of dizziness, and I fell back onto the couch. Thaliard jumped up.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just stood up too fast.” I rose once more, but again I felt my head swim and vision become blurry. I toppled over, and Thaliard only just caught me before I crashed to the floor.

“Leonine! Are you sure you’re all right?”

“No,” I admitted weakly. The headache from earlier was getting worse.

“Here. Sit up. Breath.” I felt Thaliard’s arms around me, helping me support myself. I tried to take a breath, but somehow the needed oxygen wasn’t getting to my lungs.

“Thaliard. Help,” I gasped.

“Dammit, Leonine, I don’t know what’s wrong with you!”

Suddenly, a thought formed in my reeling mind. “Dionyza. The wine. Poison.”

“Dionyza—what??”

“She… gave me some wine. Said… it was… to celebrate our victory.”

I saw Thaliard’s eyes become wide. My vision was tunneling, blurring, but I could still make out the look of horror on his face. “Oh, shit,” he whispered. “I overheard Dionyza talking with someone a couple weeks ago. Asking about the easiest way to acquire cyanide.”

Cyanide. Poison. She’d poisoned me.

“But… why…?” I breathed. Thaliard’s face was just a peach-colored blob before my eyes.

“To get rid of the evidence. With you dead, Dionyza would be the only one who knew you’d murdered Marina.”

His words rang with perfect clarity in my throbbing brain. I was only a pawn in Dionyza’s elaborate game. And right now, she was winning.

“I’m going to die,” I said. “Cyanide… kills the victim… in one to fifteen minutes. I’m… not going to make it.”

“No, you’re not.” I heard Thaliard’s voice in my ear. I was hanging limp, still cradled in his arms. I felt his hot lips press against mine.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s not your fault. Why did Dionyza have to take you away from me??” His voice cracked. A warm drop of liquid splashed onto my cheek. A tear? For as long as I had known Thaliard, I had never seen him cry.

My vision had gone completely. My breathing was ragged, and the pain in my head was almost too much to bear.

“Damn you, Dionyza,” Thaliard hissed. I could barely hear him. “You didn’t deserve to die. But I swear, Leonine, I will avenge you.”


End file.
